Fruit Seeds

Fruit seeds – more information

Did you know that you can grow melons in your own garden from seed? Starting your own fruit from seed is the most economical way to enjoy super sweet, fresh strawberries and melons from your own garden. Try your hand at the unusual with cucamelon seeds! Growing fruit from seed doesn't require any special equipment. Just a warm space and compost.

How to grow strawberries from seeds

Sow your strawberry seeds in early spring undercover. Scatter the small seed onto a moist seed tray between January and April using fine, peat-free seed compost. Keep your germinating seeds in a greenhouse or warm windowsill to sprout. Transplant your seedlings in mid spring into their own pots. Move outdoors in May. Alternatively sow some strawberry seeds in autumn to encourage a slightly early harvest. Sow these seeds in the same way and move the young plants in a cold frame to overwinter.

Strawberry 'Mignonette'is a hardy, alpine type, producing small sweet fruits which are a sight to behold spilling from a window box. Everbearing Strawberry 'Florian' has large juicy fruits and attractive pink flowers. Once you have grown your strawberries from seeds, use their runners to replace your plants as they age. Florian fruits from its runners as well as from the main plant making a fantastic trailing display in hanging baskets.

How to grow fruit from seed

So many delicious fruit plants are easy to grow from seed. Sow heat-loving fruit plants like watermelons and cucamelons in late April and May when temperatures start to rise. Hardy fruits like alpine strawberries germinate well earlier in spring or even in autumn to over winter.

If you live in a colder area but want to try your hand at growing your own melons, sow Melon 'Alvaro'. This half-hardy variety ripens happily outdoors in a spot in full sun, fruiting between July and September.

Start your fruit seeds in warm, damp seed compost to initiate germination, keeping them at a steady 21°C. As soon as you see shoots appearing, move them into a sunny spot where they get plenty of light for healthy growth. Keep your seedlings away from frost. Melons thrive inside an unheated greenhouse, and with support, their trailing vines run vertically, saving space and making harvest time easier on the back.